The first leg of the semifinals of the first Conference League offers this Thursday a duel between Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester and José Mourinho’s Roma who returns to England and wants to add this trophy to his two Champions Leagues and his two UEFA / Europa Leagues. In search of this record, Mou faces the exam that involves measuring himself against the ‘Foxes’. Feyenoord and Marseille, led by Jorge Sampaoli, dispute the first leg of the other ‘semi’.
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Leicester dreams of winning their first European title and that means eliminating Mourinho’s team, 5th in Serie A. The ‘Foxes’ are 10th in the Premier League. Rodgers worked at the Chelsea academy when the ‘blues’ were trained by Mou. This time both technicians will be rivals.
Everyone’s dream is to be 25th in the final, at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana. Leicester’s best performance in Europe is the quarterfinals in the 2016-17 Champions League. Roma won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1961, were runners-up in the 1984 European Cup and the 1991 UEFA Cup. “Leicester are strong, but we are Roma and the second leg will be played at home in front of our wonderful fans Mourinho said.
Feyenoord, 3rd in the current Eredivisie, is a historic player in the Eurotournaments: they were proclaimed European champions in 1969-70 and won the UEFA Cup twice, 1973-74 and 2001-02. Their rival in this semi-final, Marseille, is 2nd in the current Ligue 1 and was European champion in 1992-93, as well as runner-up in 1990-91. And three times UEFA/Europa League runner-up: 1998-99, 2003-04 and 2017-18.
LIKELY LINEUPS
LEICESTER-ROMA
King Power Stadium, 21.00 (MLC1)
Leicester: Schmeichel; Ricardo Pereira, Fofana, Evans, Castagne; Maddison, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall; Albrighton, Iheanacho y Barnes
Coach: Brendan Rodgers
Roma: Rui Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibáñez; Karsdorp, Cristante, Mkhitaryan, Pellegrini, Zalewski; Zaniolo y Abraham
Trainer: Jose Mourinho
Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)
FEYENOORD-MARSELLA
De Kuip, 21.00 (MLC2)
Feyenoord: Martian; Geertruida, Trauner, Senesi, Malacia; Toornstra, Aursnes, Orkun Kökçü; Nelson, Dessers and Sinisterra
Trainer: Arne Slot
Marseilles: Mandanda; Lirola, Saliba, Caleta-Car, Peres; Guendouzi, Rongier, Gueye; Map, Bakambu and Payet
Coach: Jorge Sampaoli
Referee: Michael Oliver (England)